Hochul announces new Jamaica station in State of the State
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Governor Kathy Hochul gave her State of the State address in Albany on Tuesday, announcing major infrastructure proposals and other sweeping plans for Queens and the Empire State. Photo by Darren McGee/ Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
By Ryan Schwach
Governor Kathy Hochul announced plans to construct an entirely new Jamaica Station in Queens along with a host of other programs and investments during her State of the State address on Tuesday.
Hochul’s State of the State from Albany highlighted affordability issues, the Trump administration’s encroachment on New York and infrastructure plans for Queens and the rest of the Empire State.
She added that despite those federal and economic difficulties, the state of the state is “strong.”
“From Babylon to Buffalo, New York is rising,” she said. “If you're betting on the future, you need to bet on New York.”
While many of the plans and proposals may involve wide-reaching effects across the state, one of Hochul’s announcements is a big one for the World’s Borough.
The governor announced plans to invest $50 million to completely overhaul and modernize the Jamaica Station, a major transportation hub for Queens.
“The reimagined Jamaica Station will help create better traffic flow, reduce crowding, and build out a world class station complex providing seamless connection among the LIRR Main Line, NYC Transit, and AirTrain JFK for the millions of commuters who depend on this station,” the State of the State book read.
The Jamaica Station plan did not come up during her address.
The Jamaica Station, which connects the LIRR with the J, Z and E trains, JFK AirTrain and 18 different bus routes, serves more than 200,000 passengers on an average weekday, making it the fourth busiest commuter rail station in North America, behind Manhattan’s Grand Central and Penn Stations, and Toronto’s Union Station.
Hochul said the station is beyond due for an upgrade, last being renovated more than two decades ago.
“Jamaica Station is a critical gateway for commuters on Long Island and travelers from around the world, but it has lacked investment for decades — not anymore,” Hochul said in a statement to Bloomberg News. “Our plan will create a state-of-the-art transit hub in southeast Queens that riders will use for generations to come and our efforts to extend the Second Avenue subway will save hundreds of millions of dollars in future costs and reduce time — big wins for the 240,000 daily riders projected to benefit.”
Borough President Donovan Richards, a close ally of the governor, was in strong support of the proposal.
“Governor Hochul has repeatedly demonstrated her unwavering commitment to The World’s Borough since the moment she assumed office,” he said in a statement. “She has done so yet again with this groundbreaking announcement to transform Jamaica Station into the world-class transit hub those of us in Southeast Queens have always believed it should be. From creating seamless connections between the subway, rail and AirTrain to reducing traffic and overcrowding, the reimagining of Jamaica Station is the kind of generational investment that Queens not only deserves, but has become accustomed to receiving from the Hochul Administration.”
Overhauling the station has been on his wishlist.
When he laid out his conditions for approval of the Jamaica Neighborhood Rezoning Plan, which was approved last year, he suggested “a wholesale renovation and redesign of the Parsons Boulevard F train station and the Archer Avenue bus terminal.”
“Today’s announcement also represents a validation of the tireless work we’ve done on a local level to reinvigorate one of New York City’s greatest cultural and economic centers — from rezoning 300 blocks of Jamaica, allowing us to build thousands of new affordable homes, to pouring $70 million into upgrading the aging streetscape of Jamaica Avenue,” added Richards.
The governor’s only other mention of Queens during her speech came when she brought up the pro-Palestinan protests in Kew Gardens Hills last week, where protesters used language in support of Hamas.
She was one of the first officials to condemn the comments, and used it as an example when saying she intends to ban protesters from rallying within 25 feet of houses of worship.
The Jamaica Station will get a $50 million overhaul, Governor Kathy Hochul announced during her State of the State address. Photo by D. Robert Wolcheck/Wikimedia Commons
The Kew Gardens Hills protest, which was in response to a meeting discussing the sale of land in Israel as well as the illegally-settled territory in the West Bank, was not within 25 feet of the building, and was across an intersection from the synagogue where the meeting was happening.
Hochul’s address, which comes as she begins what is expected to be a busy election year for the state’s first woman executive, highlighted affordability measures and efforts to limit the Trump administration’s impact on New York.
Hochul highlighted the shooting of Minneapolis woman Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent last week that has led to protests in New York City and across the nation, as well as recent funding cuts from the administration targeted at New York and other Democrat-led states.
“This moment carries real threats from Donald Trump and his enablers in Congress,” she said. “Driving up costs on everything from groceries to farm equipment through these reckless, reckless tariffs, killing major infrastructure projects that put union members to work, tearing apart nursing immigrant mothers from their babies and calling it public safety.”
To that end, Hochul said New York would not allow state resources to be used in ICE immigration raids, and would not allow agents in sensitive locations like schools, hospitals or places of worship without judicial warrant.
Much of her address focused on affordability.
“It starts and ends with making life more affordable,” she said. “Whether we're talking about child care, groceries, utility bills, one thing is clear, parents, veterans, disabled, seniors, they all need relief.”
She announced the State of the State’s most important new affordability policy last week when she and Mayor Zohran Mamdani rolled out their new multi-billion dollar plan to connect tens of thousands of New York City two-year-olds with childcare.
Hochul’s address was applauded by supporters and allies, including Mamdani, who said the address is clear evidence that the two leaders are on the same path.
Hochul has two key elections in front of her, first a challenge from the left in Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, and then to the right from Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
While kicking off a statewide “listening tour,” Delgado called many of Hochul’s State of the State proposals “half-measures.”
“In today’s State of the State speech, Governor Hochul made clear that she is only willing to offer half-measures in a moment that demands bold leadership,” Delgado said in a statement. “You don’t fix an affordability crisis with pilot programs, tax breaks, and empty promises. You fix it by taking on the powerful interests that have rigged the system and by providing a true support system for working people and families.”
